Visual WebGui Case Studies

"The fast initialization of the generated web pages of the Visual WebGui application creates a desktop-like feeling while working in a web browser" 

Overview
ARC GREENLAB develops and markets specialized applications based on ArcGIS ® technology in the fields of cadastral survey, municipal and forestry with a customer list that includes municipalities, government agencies and state offices along with companies in the supply and disposal, construction, telecommunications, transportation, planning and engineering industries.

The customer wants to integrate different local database applications into a centralized browser-based intranet application. A server based GIS link is to be delivered at a later stage.

A centralized database application with GIS integration for State Office for Consumer Protection and Agriculture in Brandenburg/Germany is created in this project.

Business needs
Former solution: Several Access-Database applications with local databases and VBA-Code.
The new solution should be web based and centralized and should integrate all different single databases with a single sign-on-authorization.

The GUI of the application needs to be desktop-like. There is no need for GUI changes after deployment. The database is SQL Server 2008. Performance is critical due to small bandwith within the LAN of the customer.

The ability to use windows-forms-like GUI design tools makes prototyping and deployment of the project very easy. The goals of a fast GUI and an intuitive user experience are met by the tools and controls provided by Visual WebGui.

The application needed to provide access to a centralized database for different user groups in a separate WAN the customer is using in different offices via a web interface. The business logic implemented is completely separated from the GUI in order to maintain a multi-tier-architecture.

Rapid prototyping is used in the project to deliver the customer a real GUI experience and to minimize changes in the user interface at a later stage. The controls that are available through Visual WebGui enable a desktop-like appearance for the web-application.

The performance of the application is critical because of the low bandwidth available in parts of the customer’s network. It is important that web application provides a responsive UI and creates a desktop-like feeling even though accessed via a standard web browser.

The Solution
The team chose Visual WebGui as the platform for the new solution because it allowed them to create the GUI of the application within a short period of time and with very friendly controls to the end user within a web environment. Eventually, the time to market period is significantly shorter compared to a classic ASP.NET approach.

The creation of the GUI during the prototyping phase of the project was very fast. The deployment of the project worked very well on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista.

Benefits
Using Visual WebGui lead to the responsive and easy-to-use design of the user interface supported a quick and efficient way of developing the GUI for both the prototypes and the completed application. "The fast initialization of the generated web pages of the Visual WebGui application creates a desktop-like feeling while working in a web browser," said Martin Krausmann. The rapid prototyping allowed by Visual WebGui also means that changes to the GUI can be handled in an efficient way. Visual WebGui provided a solution with an efficient GUI design while taking a relatively very short time to develop.

Due to the integration in Visual Studio, the development process took place within a familiar and intuitive work environment while the controls provided within Visual Studio and the VWG project contributed to the easy development process.

Once the solution was completed, the Visual WebGui platform also allowed the easy deployment of the application. This simple deployment process also contributed to quick deployment within different environments in development, testing and productive settings.

Screen shots 
Entry Page with listing of available functional modules

 
Administration module – preferences, settings and user management

 
Data management module - planning of research actions

 
Reporting – integration of Crystal reports data

 
Dialog for filtering data